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Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon Blu-ray
Questar | 2008 | 98 mins | Not rated | Sep 16, 2008
Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon Blu-ray ReviewNatural (and national) wonders shine in high definition.Reviewed by Lindsay Mayer, September 13, 2008 Proudly carrying on the trend of natural wonders as high definition eye candy, Questar debuts on Blu-ray Disc with a trio of titles focusing on national parks in the United States. Roughly divided into regional themes, each release contains two hour-long features that overview their subject's natural and human history. The spectacles are dazzling, and the information given, playing at a brisk pace, works well as an introduction for the unfamiliar. The first of these is Grand Canyon, along with its double feature program National Parks of the Great Southwest. On a personal level, I can recall visiting my snowbird grandparents one winter in Arizona. Hiking a short expanse of the Sonoran Desert and teetering on the edge of the geologic wonder which bore the straightforward moniker of Grand Canyon are memories I still retain to this day. Though the climate is harsh and the terrain rugged, a surprising amount of biodiversity can be found by those with quiet souls and patient constitution. One can feel a greater awareness of themselves in a place so deceptively thriving.
Slightly promotional in tone, these two features provide beautiful footage of four southwest national parks, in addition to the main attraction of the Grand Canyon's dynamic landscape and indomitable nature. Grand Canyon offers a little bit of everything, from the area's geologic origins, to its ancient human cultures, as well as profiling a few prominent European personalities. Carved into the landscape from millions of years of systematic erosion by rainfall and watershed river systems, the current canyon system has proven a formidable habitat for humans and other wildlife alike. Still, remnants of prehistoric native cultures such as the Anasazi are still to be found in the remote depths of the gorges. More recently, a man by the man of John Wesley Powell lead the first official canyon mapping expedition in 1869. Perhaps the area owes much of its mystique to the relative novelty it presents to European emigrants and their descendants. The bulk of the hour-long program focuses on contemporary tourist locales and activities to be found in the region, such as lush hotel resorts and restaurants, hiking, boating, and muleback tours. Boating on the rapids of the Colorado River - named by Spanish explorers for its reddish sediment - can be had in rafts, kayaks, dories and heavy duty air-filled canvas crafts dubbed baloney boats. Lava Falls is one of the most tumultuous, challenging segments of the river, testing the mettle of even the most experienced of water sports enthusiasts. The Kaibab and Bright Angel trails travel for miles through forested pathways, running from the South Rim to the scenic destination of the North Rim and its fascinating geologic formations like Angel's Window. Another very popular option is touring the Bright Angel trail via mule rides, which are rather grueling and last for hours; tourists have the option of staying overnight at Phantom Ranch, located at the bottom of the massive gorge. Those who wish for less spartan accommodations can choose to stay and eat at other famous locales, including the Grand Canyon Lodge and El Tovar Hotel, with spectacular views provided by sites like Kolb Studio and Lookout Studio, which features unique architecture by Mary Colter. Probably the loveliest locale associated with the Grand Canyon are the lands of the Havasu 'Baaja. No roads lead to the oasis, and visitors must walk for miles on foot or horseback to find the village. Nestled in a series of canyon and plateau systems, the land of the Havasu people is renown for its gorgeous system of turquoise waterfalls and streams, displaying such a surreal coloration due to the high limestone content in the waters. Visitors come to hike, camp, and swim in the shining pools, which look spectacular in high definition. Though it feels rather like it is trying to sell an experience, Grand Canyon is nevertheless beautiful to look at, and proves to be an enormously popular tourist trap year after year. Recalling my fleeting experience with the mesmerizing terrain, I for one would love to return to the rocky landscape and relive its wonders. Video  Featuring an interlaced picture encoded in VC-1 and averaging about 15 Mbps, Grand Canyon looks awfully good. Filmed and mastered in high definition, the program boasts a lovely amount of detail; the crags of ancient seabed, eroded away by a millennia of rainfall, are captured and presented with a large amount of precision, making broad long shots and extreme closeups alike breathtaking. Flowing water is crystal clear and free of macroblocking. Colors are vibrant and rich, although the balance seems a little off at times, as the faces of several interviewees (park rangers and the like) took on a "Cheeto orange" color in some segments. Red rock country, with its bold, rusty hues, looked very nice however, and no artifacts or effects like posterization were noticeable. In fact, the transfer is overall very clean and free of compression problems, and blacks were satisfactorily deep without crush. Likewise, whites did not bloom, and contrast overall is quite good. Aside from the wonky color in some parts, the picture understandably has a slight softness due to the interlacing, but it does not detract much overall from the spectacular vistas that Grand Canyon presents. Audio  Grand Canyon offers two audio options in Dolby Digital - one is in stereo and the other is a 5.1 mix. The multichannel presentation is adequate for the material, which is mostly narration and talking heads. The rears and LFE are seldom used, but do pick up some ambiance like the clop of mules' hooves and the rushing of river rapids. The scoring is rather flat and uninspiring, and feels sort of "boxed in"- one can only speculate that this is due to the lossy nature of the compressed DD mix. Being a primarily "show and tell" type of title, the audio serves its purpose as an educational tool, although the flat sound makes the material difficult to be engaging at times. Supplements  Though not apparent from the cover art, Grand Canyon is a double feature, with the bonus program National Parks of the Great Southwest included for "the ultimate national parks experience." Also running for an hour in length, Southwest spotlights four park systems; running through a brief history of each, they include anecdotes of famous figures, and roll gorgeous footage of rivers, rocks, and towering cacti. Canyonlands National Park features monolithic pillars and the amazing "red rock country" - so named because of its intense red color, due to iron oxide deposits laid down by the shallow seas which used to cover the area millions of years ago. The Great Gallery, also called the Louvre of the Southwest, is an enormous panel of pictograph rock art located in Horseshoe Canyon. A wonder to study, archaeologists have yet to puzzle out its meaning. The second park featured is Arches, which - unsurprisingly - is distinguished by the vast array of geologic arches - over 2500 have been identified thus far. They range from small holes in the sandstone to delicate, impossible structures spanning hundreds of feet long. The third location, Saguaro National Park, was first deemed a protected area in order to preserve the distinctive icons of the southwest - the giant saguaro cactus. Living up to 200 years and some weighing in at 10 tons, the cacti provide vital food and shelter to a variety of native birds and terrestrial animals, and their imposing size and human-like shape have made them an instantly recognizable desert symbol. The program also highlights other tourist attractions to be found in the area, such as the Old Tucson Studios used for many an "old west" film shoots, along with the illustrious Hacienda del Sol, where the actors were historically lodged. Those looking for natural history can visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, as well as the Kitt Peak National Observatory. Finally, the Death Valley National Park, bordering between California and Nevada, it is the largest national park in the lower 48 states of the U.S. 15 miles across and 150 miles long, a single valley boasts the honors of being the lowest, hottest, driest location in the nation. Natural phenomena are to be found here, like Badwater, which has large salt deposits spanning 40 miles. Being so rich in mineral deposits, the area was aggressively mined in the early 1900s, resulting in settlements that eventually became ghost towns when the land was stripped of ore. The Mesquite Sand Dunes are another popular attraction, and have been used as a filming location for Hollywood for decades. Final words Full of enchanting vistas and revealing looks at some of the southwest U.S.'s hidden treasures, Grand Canyon and its companion piece look glorious on Blu-ray. Accompanied by beautiful footage filmed in high definition, the feature moves briskly through the many attractions and activities that are available to the region's visitors, shedding some light on the stories of those who came before as well. From hiking, swimming, and boating to cross country trips by horse and mule, the Grand Canyon and its fellow national parks are a truly picturesque locale. The BD release boasts nice video quality and adequate sound, and is recommended for travelers and the curious alike! 
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